The image above is a slide from a lecture I give about being a community journalist. I use this as my introduction.
I get into discussions all the time with other photographers about… well, you guessed it, photography.
I'm always stunned when I hear photographers complain about other photographers or technology or anything really--lighten up you're a photographer - it just doesn't get better than that!
The term selfie seems to bother many photographers. Not sure why though it does seem less impressive than 'self portrait' or 'portrait of self'. But who cares what they're called. The bigger problem is what they are.
I'm going to launch a conservative estimate here. 50,000,000 selfies (or your preferred word) were taken today. 49,997,369 of them were total crap in terms of being a quality image.
Toilets in the background, badly lit, over 35,000,000 showcased duck lips and a peace sign, blurry I could go on. And they were shared with us anyway.
I take selfless all the time, though I guess I'd get a bit snooty and call them self portraits because that is exactly what i think of them. They are portraits - even the illustration type ones without my glasses. To me a photograph should be something that we take a little bit of care in taking so that when we show it to someone it is clear what we're conveying.
And if not clear - intriguing!
The selfie revolution is in large part to the cell phone camera, another thing that seems to get many photographers bugged. I like to joke(though its really true in my case) that I make monthly payments on a camera that makes calls. Its a camera that makes distinct images to its specs.
No its not a dslr, no its not film, no its not medium or large format, its a little camera that makes pictures with limited quality capabilities. In terms of quality images you can blow up to the size of a pick-up truck, its a crap camera.
But its a camera and it can make images.
And the images can be really great images if you use it with the same amount of care you use your dslr. Use light, compose, understand its limitations, understand its strengths and possibilities.
And thats the key--understand what you want or need out of an image. If you need a billboard, don't use a phone camera. But if you want a picture from ground level of pebbles on a road say, the phone can get a lot lower and focus a lot closer than your dslr can.
One of my on going projects called "Brewscapes" where I photograph the suds of beer in a glass with whatever I choose to put behind it, I cannot do with a dslr, but my iPhone sometimes can even fit inside the glass(firmly gripped of course). I just can't make that image.
So folks who are upset with selfless and phone pics don't be, be upset with users who push mediocrity or worse upon us. I think we should all take selfless and look at ourselves and think about who we are and why we're here! and its easy to do with your phone and no one else ever has to see it.
And if your open toilet is in the background don't post it on social media, unless of course there is a cat sitting on ti peeing - now that would be ok!
I get into discussions all the time with other photographers about… well, you guessed it, photography.
I'm always stunned when I hear photographers complain about other photographers or technology or anything really--lighten up you're a photographer - it just doesn't get better than that!
The term selfie seems to bother many photographers. Not sure why though it does seem less impressive than 'self portrait' or 'portrait of self'. But who cares what they're called. The bigger problem is what they are.
I'm going to launch a conservative estimate here. 50,000,000 selfies (or your preferred word) were taken today. 49,997,369 of them were total crap in terms of being a quality image.
Toilets in the background, badly lit, over 35,000,000 showcased duck lips and a peace sign, blurry I could go on. And they were shared with us anyway.
I take selfless all the time, though I guess I'd get a bit snooty and call them self portraits because that is exactly what i think of them. They are portraits - even the illustration type ones without my glasses. To me a photograph should be something that we take a little bit of care in taking so that when we show it to someone it is clear what we're conveying.
And if not clear - intriguing!
The selfie revolution is in large part to the cell phone camera, another thing that seems to get many photographers bugged. I like to joke(though its really true in my case) that I make monthly payments on a camera that makes calls. Its a camera that makes distinct images to its specs.
No its not a dslr, no its not film, no its not medium or large format, its a little camera that makes pictures with limited quality capabilities. In terms of quality images you can blow up to the size of a pick-up truck, its a crap camera.
But its a camera and it can make images.
And the images can be really great images if you use it with the same amount of care you use your dslr. Use light, compose, understand its limitations, understand its strengths and possibilities.
And thats the key--understand what you want or need out of an image. If you need a billboard, don't use a phone camera. But if you want a picture from ground level of pebbles on a road say, the phone can get a lot lower and focus a lot closer than your dslr can.
One of my on going projects called "Brewscapes" where I photograph the suds of beer in a glass with whatever I choose to put behind it, I cannot do with a dslr, but my iPhone sometimes can even fit inside the glass(firmly gripped of course). I just can't make that image.
So folks who are upset with selfless and phone pics don't be, be upset with users who push mediocrity or worse upon us. I think we should all take selfless and look at ourselves and think about who we are and why we're here! and its easy to do with your phone and no one else ever has to see it.
And if your open toilet is in the background don't post it on social media, unless of course there is a cat sitting on ti peeing - now that would be ok!